Twenty die in an armed assault in a mosque in Khartoum, Sudan

Date: 4 Feb 1994
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

In a massacre on 4 February 1994 Abbas al-Bager Abbas opened fire killing 20 praying muslims and wounding 33 others in a mosque in Khartoum, Sudan. Abbas was eventually gunned down by police after he refused to surrender. It was generally thought that he acted alone though there were few eye witnesses who claimed to have seen at least three other men with him that night. Abbas belonged to the Islamic fundamentalist group Al-Takfir wa al-Hijran which had a long standing grudge against the Islamic sect Al- Sunna Al-mohammediyya Mosque . Police arrested 65 members of the sect after the massacre. The tension between the two sects was caused by differences of opinion regarding the implementation of the Sharia Law in government.

Search events by date

What happened on your birthday?

How we know this

01Murderpedia, Abbas Baqir ABBAS, from Murderpedia, [online], Available at murderpedia.org [Accessed: 18 January 2012]
02BBC News Gunman kills 20 in Sudan mosque, from BBC, [online], Available at news.bbc.co.uk [Accessed: 18 January 2013]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2013, January 30). Twenty die in an armed assault in a mosque in Khartoum, Sudan. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094734

South African History Online (2013) 'Twenty die in an armed assault in a mosque in Khartoum, Sudan', South African History Online, 30 January. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094734 (Accessed: 22 August 2026).

South African History Online, Twenty die in an armed assault in a mosque in Khartoum, Sudan [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094734, (accessed 22 August 2026).

"Twenty die in an armed assault in a mosque in Khartoum, Sudan." South African History Online, 30 Jan. 2013, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094734. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Twenty die in an armed assault in a mosque in Khartoum, Sudan." South African History Online. January 30, 2013. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094734.